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Topic: Afghanistan - 3rd Battalion, The Royal 22nd Regiment. 07-08 (Read 5511 times)
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Something else that had to be said... and should have been said long ago.
Canadians let down by NATO in Afghanistan: general
Mike Blanchfield
CanWest News Service
Thursday, September 06, 2007
OTTAWA -- Canadian soldiers and their allies in southern Afghanistan face added risks because some NATO countries are not supplying enough troops and equipment, the head of the alliance's military committee said Thursday.
Gen. Ray Henault, formerly Canada's defence chief, also said some NATO members are making it tougher on their comrades in the south by restricting where their troops can operate. With other countries not deploying soldiers to the front lines in Kandahar and its neighbouring southern provinces, Canada and its Dutch, British and U.S. allies are left to face the toughest fighting and heaviest casualties alone.
"Shortfalls do create additional risks and we try to reduce those as much as possible," Gen. Henault said shortly after he arrived with the 26 chiefs of defence of the alliance for three days of meetings here and in Victoria, "and we also encourage nations to reduce their limitations on troop movements [through] what we call 'caveats.'"
"Canada has no caveats, and so that's very commendable, quite frankly," he said, adding that the "reduction of caveats, especially in the geographic sense, are what we consider to be a force multiplier and help our commanders on the ground to do their jobs that much better."
Canada has repeatedly lobbied NATO allies to lift their caveats, complaining that nations with such restrictions are not shouldering their fair share of the fighting in the south.
The countries usually singled out -- France, Germany, Spain and Italy -- counter that they can't simply abandon other parts of Afghanistan when the going gets tough in the south because their areas of responsibility would become vulnerable to insurgents.
However, it has become evident in recent months that areas such as the Panjwaii district west of Kandahar -- previously secured by Canadian-led NATO forces and touted as a success story -- have fallen vulnerable to Taliban infiltrators, who managed to kill Canadian troops with roadside bombs.
"We are aware of instances where we have not had sufficient troops in a particular region or particular area to maintain those gains, to consolidate them," Gen. Henault said.
Gen. Henault has cultivated a reputation as a consummate diplomat and bureaucrat, a defuser of controversy. He is every bit the opposite of the outspoken Gen. Rick Hillier, who succeeded him as Canada's defence chief and who is hosting his counterparts here.
But, shortly after his plane touched down from Brussels, Gen. Henault bluntly confronted both the caveats controversy and a second major headache that has dogged NATO since it began sending troops to Afghanistan five years ago: that some member countries are not living up to their original promises of equipment and personnel.
The Netherlands is mulling over a pullout of its 1,500 troops next year, while Canada could end its combat commitment by February 2009. Gen. Henault said the generals won't meddle in internal politics, but not before adding that he hopes the two countries, which between them have 4,000 troops deployed in southern Afghanistan, would stay the course.
"We're certainly hopeful that Canada will find a way to continue operating in Afghanistan, again because of what Canada represents to the international community," he said. "We're certainly focused on what the Dutch decision will be ... we're hopeful that they will also find ways of continuing to operate in Afghanistan, if that's possible."
The Dutch parliament must vote to extend its military commitment, which will otherwise end in August 2008. The Harper government has said Canada's 2,500 troops won't continue combat operations in Afghanistan beyond a February 2009 commitment unless there is a consensus in Parliament to extend the mission. The Liberals have accused the government of essentially leading NATO along by not formally giving notice of its intention to leave by the previously announced withdrawal deadline.
Gen. Henault said NATO has received no official word on Canada's withdrawal plans, and would not say how the alliance would plug any void created by a Canadian pullout.
"A lot of things can happen in 18 months," he said.
Gen. Henault issued a pointed reminder that political deadlines imposed in member countries were utterly divorced from the imperatives within Afghanistan. Training enough indigenous army and police personnel to provide security must be a long-term commitment, he said.
"There isn't a date you can set on that. It's an end state."
Planning efforts to ensure NATO has enough soldiers and equipment is an ongoing task for the organization's officials in Mons, Belgium, Gen. Henault said. It is a topic that is "very, very keenly debated" by his committee and the North Atlantic Council, the alliance's governing body to which the generals report.
"We remind nations at my level, as well as the secretary-general level, on a continuous basis of the responsibility that the nations have after having signed up for the Afghan mission, and the statement of requirement that was established: You fill the statement of requirement to provide the capabilities that are needed by the commander to do his job on the ground."
He lauded Canada's sacrifices and the "tremendous" leadership it has shown in Afghanistan.
He said NATO was determined "to stay the course with the alliance members and their partners as well as the international community ... to go as long as possible to satisfy the requirements of what we have signed up to do."
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
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Mike Blais
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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This ought to crack you guys up. Considering the non-combat caveat the deutchers are enjoying it seems kid of ludicrous to me that they expect us to carry their purses. Bletch! Stay the course for the greater good? Send down a fully armed, ready to kick ass battle group and we'll talk, till then, Heintz, make way for a combat soldier and shut yer collective strudelholes... with the rest of the caveat-sponges that infect NATO and weaken us all.
Berlin begs Ottawa to stay past 2009
With its public increasingly unnerved about terrorism and war, Germany implores Canada to stay the course for the greater good
DOUG SAUNDERS
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From Friday's Globe and Mail
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Friday, September 07 – Online Edition, Posted at 3:47 AM EST
BERLIN — Stung by a thwarted terrorist attack and facing their own ugly parliamentary debate over the war, German leaders are begging Canada to avoid withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in early 2009 as scheduled.
"I want to say how much we appreciate what Canada is doing. We know that, for instance, about 100,000 Canadian soldiers lie in the European soil, [soldiers] that fought in two world wars begun by Germany. And it was never a question for Canada to defend our common values where it was needed," Eckart von Klaeden, Chancellor Angela Merkel's foreign-policy spokesman, said in an interview yesterday.
"Canada is a really important country as a role model for others. It would have consequences for the whole alliance and for the whole Western world if Canada would leave Afghanistan."
In both Canada and Germany, the Afghan mission faces intense pressure from the public and from opposition parties supporting shaky governments. Germany, like Canada, is in the midst of a debate over the nature of its commitment. But both parties in the German coalition government, the left-wing Social Democrats and the conservative Christian Democrats, have declared that troops should stay for at least 10 years, and the Social Democrats are arguing that the number of troops should be increased.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said recently that Canada's 2,500 troops would not stay beyond the current February, 2009, deadline unless there is a parliamentary mandate, which would probably be impossible in the current minority government.
NATO leaders, meeting in Ottawa yesterday and facing withdrawals from the 37-nation Afghanistan mission by Canada, the Netherlands and several other nations, urged Canada to "stay the course."
In the war-plagued south, the loss of Canada and the Netherlands would leave only Britain and the United States, and NATO would be forced to press other nations, which have so far refused to enter this more intense battle, to send their troops into the line of fire.
This has created an air of crisis in Germany, whose 3,500 troops are mostly engaged in non-combat work securing the relatively peaceful north of Afghanistan.
Christian Schmidt, the German secretary of state for defence, said in an interview that Germany would not consider sending its troops south, beyond 100 special-forces soldiers and a fleet of Tornado aircraft that are supporting the U.S. Operation Enduring Freedom mission there, and suggested that Canada is damaging the solidarity of the NATO mission.
"The ideal should be, you go in together, you go out together, mission accomplished and we're leaving. ... I think it would be the best to go out together, but I appreciate very much and I estimate very highly the commitment of Canada as it is today."
Germany on Wednesday arrested three men and is seeking about a dozen other suspects after breaking up an alleged Islamist terrorist plot that sought to explode huge bombs outside U.S.-linked military installations near Frankfurt. Such strikes could become prevalent if the NATO coalition was seen to be weak and divided, German officials said.
"I think we are only successful if we stand together, and if the terrorists would identify Germany as the weakest link in NATO's chain, I think this would increase the probability of such attacks. So standing together is really very, very important," Mr. von Klaeden said.
The German parliament will vote during the next three months on a series of bills that would extend the country's military commitment in Afghanistan, which expires before the end of this year. While both the conservative and left-wing parties in the coalition government are likely to support an extension of the NATO mission in northern Afghanistan, they are deeply divided over the country's other commitments and the details of the arrangement.
The debate in Berlin is strikingly similar to the one unfolding in Ottawa. The German public is generally opposed to the mission, with 65 per cent of voters supporting an immediate withdrawal.
And the left-leaning Social Democrats may be poised to vote against Germany's contribution to the U.S. Operation Enduring Freedom mission, which is largely indistinguishable from the NATO operation but is more active in the south. They will hold a party convention later this month to decide their position. The party has been losing voters to the Left Party, made of former East German Communists and far-left former Social Democrats, because it is the only party backing a complete withdrawal.
Rainer Arnold, the Social Democrat defence spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that his party would back a troop increase if the generals wanted it, and that they are largely supporting the German non-combat role in the north, but that it may need to be examined.
"I think our main responsibility is to find a better understanding of why it is that Germany has decided to maintain its strong position in the north," he said. "It's the same question I was confronted with recently in Kabul from the Canadian generals, asking why we can't send a strong army to the south."
Mr. Arnold said that Germany would likely be considering an immediate withdrawal if it were facing the number of deaths that Canada has been enduring. Since the war's outset in 2001, 21 German soldiers and three policemen have died, compared with 70 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat.
"It's a very difficult position the Canadians are in, especially given the smallness of their army and the very difficult situation in the south and the high number of victims," Mr. Arnold said. "If we had these kind of figures in Germany, I don't know if the German population and politicians would support the mandate."
The military's role
The role of the German military has been severely restricted since the adoption of a new constitution in 1949 after its Second World War defeat.
Under Germany's constitution, known as its Basic Law, the military's role is strictly defensive. Constitutional court rulings in the 1990s, however, expanded the definition of "defensive" beyond protecting Germany's borders to include guarding the security of Germany anywhere in the world. Before that change, the German military mostly helped out in times of natural disaster.
Around the same time that the military role was changed, the courts also made it clear that a specific resolution of parliament, which describes the details of the mission and limits its term, is required to send German troops outside the territory of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Staff
What was said
Terror arrests in Germany sparked a range of opinions in the newspapers.
Frankfurter Allgemeine
New York. Madrid. London. Then Frankfurt? Hanau? Heidelberg? German cities were supposed to become part of the barrage of attacks by Islamic terrorists that would shake the West to its foundations. ... Experience shows that one cannot give them any quarter, not in Afghanistan, not in German mosques and backrooms, and not in the depths of the Internet. The next attack is possibly already being planned.
Green Party Chair Claudia Roth, in an interview with Sueddeutsche Zeitung
Along with many other experts, I see a need for a radical change of strategy [in Afghanistan]. This doesn't mean that we should just deploy more troops, as Foreign Minister [Frank-Walter] Steinmeier demands, but that we finally push forward with all our strength on civilian reconstruction. At the same time, along with ISAF [International Security Force to Afghanistan], a military component remains necessary to secure reconstruction efforts.
Die Zeit
In year five of the reconstruction efforts on the Hindu Kush, the German army has learned a painful lesson: It is wrong to think that you won't make enemies in Afghanistan as long as you do only good. Whoever changes or modernizes things here, is practising politics, be it in the building of schools or of roads.
Reader of Die Welt responds to question, Are our current laws enough to fight against terror?
[Interior Minister] Wolfgang Schaeuble wants to turn our country into a surveillance state. Besides, we ourselves are responsible for possible terrorist attacks because we participate in useless oil wars with the U.S.A. in the name of freedom, which for me are crimes.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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ranrad
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 Somethings rotten here.. but have to say i love that shut your collective strudelholes.....but hey ,they got dang fine strudel Mike... but i get the point and have to agree...i wonder if it is possible to find a solution that will work, and of course that is well beyond me, but i am not too shy to give my opinion....never have been , even when NOT asked....i do wish more Canadians would take some more time and find out as much as they can about our role over there, and whetherwe CAN sustain , even that role??? And then talk to their MPs about how they feel on the subject...and then i would hope too that the Prime Minister would at least listen to the MPs elected by the people... right now , he is NOT... i am not sure what to make of Mr Harper...i dont know of many who are...i am not saying he is stupid, as it appears he is not... but i would say if i had the chance " You ,Sir are at least being very DUMB , should you continue to exclude ALL Canadians in the plans for this country.. it will surely come back to bite you badly, and i believe , very soon"....ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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Mike Blais
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Somewhat disappointing that ground pacified by The Regiment for the past year would be lost merely because their has been a change in regiments on the ground...
September 7, 2007
Look down, carefully, says Canadian officer sweeping Afghan road for bombs
By DENE MOORE
SPERWAN GHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - In this war-torn land, almost anything can be - and has been - used as a roadside bomb.
For the untrained eye, every bump in the road and every stray water bottle poses a deadly threat.
And for Canadian soldiers trying to secure the most dangerous districts of Afghanistan, there is no way to avoid the danger.
"You can't just be in a vehicle," says Capt. Bryan Ouellet, 27, of the Royal 22nd Regiment's 3rd Battalion battle group.
"We need to have contact with the local people so they know we're here to help, not just to find Taliban but to bring security to the local population."
And so, with a warning that there could be hidden explosives on the dusty village road to the forward operating base at Sperwan Ghar, Ouellet and four of his soldiers got out on foot to sweep for bombs that threaten the convoy behind them.
For 700 extremely long metres, they walked from side to side in search of any sign of the improvised explosive devices - or IEDs - that have killed 38 Canadian soldiers and thousands of Afghans.
Sperwan Ghar is a remote outpost in the Panjwaii district southwest of Kandahar city. The journey of just over six kilometres takes 45 minutes because of the frequent need to sweep for IEDs.
"The threat is there," Ouellet said. "You just have to be aware of it and take a look down."
"We still have to get out and find the mines before they get us."
Although Canadian military officials say they have struck some heavy blows against the Taliban here in their ideological heartland, insurgents are still widespread.
And they're watching.
The Taliban took advantage of the changeover of Canadian regiments this summer to re-establish a presence in several areas.
Now the Royal 22nd Regiment, known as the Van Doos, are trying to win back the local population and re-establish their presence in the region.
At Sperwan Ghar, Lieut. Marie-Christine Alamy said a lot of that has been done. The base, rimmed by small villages in the shadow of Khyber Mountain, has been quiet and she hopes it remains that way.
"We go into the village to speak to the villagers, to ask if there's been any strange activity and if there are things we can do," she said.
"If someone is sick, we help them. We also give crayons to the children, put a smile on their faces."
Alamy said it's paid off.
"There's a lot less activity here now," she said of the Taliban. "People are starting to come back."
And that, say many, is how war will ultimately be won.
Yet it's unlikely to be won with kindness alone.
Back at a base at Masum Ghar for the night, the soldiers didn't even have time to take off their vests before a rocket attack happened. One rocket whistled in over their heads, landing about 30 metres away.
Nobody was hurt.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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Elsewhere... da French are stepping up to the plate and sending two hundred more soldiers about as far away from Khandahar as possible and still remain in Afghanistan....
Merci buckets!
France to send 200 more troops to Afghanistan - defense ministry
16:36 | 07/ 09/ 2007
DUSHANBE, September 7 (RIA Novosti) - France will deploy 200 more troops in Afghanistan, the French defense minister said Friday after his meeting with the president of Tajikistan, an ex-Soviet republic bordering on Afghanistan.
Since 2001, 1,000 French troops have been based in war-torn Afghanistan as part of the international coalition force.
Herve Morin said after talks with President Emomali Rakhmonov in Dushanbe, the Tajik capital, that with the new military personnel "the number of French troops in Afghanistan will reach 1,200. We are sending signal officers and military advisers, who will help Afghanistan train its army."
Morin also said that France planned to redeploy six Mirage fighters from Dushanbe to Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, as a temporary measure to ensure "better operational efficiency," as missions take longer from the Dushanbe airbase.
Three French fighters are being sent to Afghanistan in late September, and another three will follow in mid-October accompanied by 150 engineers and air crews. The French Defense Ministry said the aircraft would be used to patrol southern Afghanistan.
French air force personnel have been deployed in Tajikistan since December 2001, providing air support to NATO ground troops in Afghanistan. Six Mirage fighters, three military transport aircraft, and some 450 French troops are currently based in Dushanbe.
The French minister said the units deployed in Tajikistan's capital were of great strategic and military importance for France, and will remain in place unless "asked by the government" to leave.
Morin and Rakhmonov also discussed the current situation in Afghanistan, and anti-drug trafficking measures, with both parties agreeing that an alternative crop to the poppy was needed to stop drug production increasing. Tajikistan is a major transit route for illegal drugs from Afghanistan, which produces around 90% of the world's heroin.
The French defense minister also met air force personnel and engineers involved in reconstructing the Dushanbe airfield, before leaving for the Afghan capital Kabul.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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terry hanna
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I SECOND BOTH YOU AND RANRADS OPINIONS, 110%, THAT GEN. IS TO BE APPLAUDED. IF THE FRENCH ARE OF THE POSITION THAT. ITS OF GREAT STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE TO THEM,THEN THEY AND THE DEUTCHERS SHOULD GET INVOLVED IN THE COMBAT AS TOO SHOULD ALL THEM OTHER CHICKENSHIT YELLOW B*******'S'THEY ARE COWARDS.LIKE VULTURES, WE SUPPLY THE CANNON FODDER AND THEM A*******'S REAP THE PEACE DIVIDENDS (IF ANY). NATO IS A BLOODY DISGRACE AND SHOULD BE DISBANDED.
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Mike Blais
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Well, R, call it a case of bitter reality. NATO was, and is supposed to be based on collective defense and, while the mandate of invasion and regime change in Astan was certainly justifiable in the aftermath of 911, the mission henceforth has been pretty well boned out. Osama was on the telly yesterday, good lord, for the life me, it just pisses me off why, after such an investment in blood, toil and cash, he is not a grease spot on the wall of of some cave somewhere. That being said... Richard Clarke was on CNN yesterday, claimed there were more policemen in New York city then there were American soldiers in Afghanistan. I would say there is your answer, in a rather simplistic nutshell, but answer all the same. If America, the nation who was attacked and, as a consequence, drew the alliance into Astan, clearly does not take Osama seriously... I say they because, proportionately, we are a major contributor and out commitment in blood gives us a spot at the table that few of the thirty five plus states of NATO have a right to sit.
Check this out. As you know, the Dutch are pulling out soon...
Diggers' Afghan dilemma as ally wavers
Tom Hyland
September 9, 2007
FRANTIC diplomatic efforts are under way to find extra troops to serve in southern Afghanistan alongside Australian soldiers, who will be left dangerously exposed if the Netherlands withdraws its forces.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has warned that Australia will have to pull out if the Dutch withdraw and a third country does not fill the gap.
The Dutch Government will decide this month whether to extend its two-year commitment to Afghanistan, which ends next August.
While the Netherlands is unlikely to completely pull out, the Dutch Government has indicated it is likely to reduce the size of its commitment, which is increasingly unpopular with voters and stretching the resources and manpower of the Dutch military.
In the past two weeks, the Dutch, who have lost 10 soldiers in Afghanistan, have approached Norway and Germany to send troops to Oruzgan province, where Dutch and Australian troops are based as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Norway and Germany have troops in the relatively secure north of Afghanistan, but both governments face widespread political and popular resistance to committing forces to combat roles in the dangerous south.
A spokesman for Dr Nelson declined to comment when asked if Australia had sought troops from other countries.
But the Federal Government, which has criticised the failure of some NATO nations to provide combat troops, is certain to be backing the Dutch lobbying efforts.
Australia is particularly worried the Dutch will withdraw their Apache attack helicopters, which have been credited with saving the lives of Australian troops when they are under Taliban attack.
Even if the Government wanted to send them, Australia's own Tiger attack helicopters are not yet fully operational.
An alternative could be the RAAF's FA/18 Hornet jets, which were used in the invasion of Iraq.
The Afghanistan issue will be on the agenda in Canberra this week when Prime Minister John Howard meets his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper, after the APEC summit.
Canada has lost 70 soldiers in Afghanistan and, like Australia, has strongly criticised allies that have refused to shoulder the combat burden.
The Canadian commitment also faces growing domestic pressure, with opposition parties calling for Canadian troops to be pulled out when the mandate of their mission expires in 2009.
In contrast, Australia's commitment to Afghanistan has bipartisan political support.
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has indicated a Labor government could send more forces if required.
"We are there in Afghanistan for the long haul," he said after meeting US President George Bush in Sydney last week. "We'd look at reasonable requests in the future for military commitments, including the hard-edged stuff, which, as we know, involves some of our special forces."
Labor's promise to withdraw the bulk of Australian troops from Iraq by the middle of next year would potentially release 500 soldiers for service in Afghanistan.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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Prepare to move... move now!
Canadian troops begin major combat operation
NATO
CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Sat. Sep. 8 2007 2:35 PM ET
Canadian troops are carrying out a major operation -- 'Operation Keeping Goodwill' -- in the volatile Zhari district of Afghanistan's Kandahar province.
"This is likely the largest operation that we've seen this summer," CTV's Steve Chao told Newsnet from Afghanistan on Saturday.
"We're told by Canadian commanders that it involves the entire Canadian battle group. It involves tanks, light armoured vehicles, hundreds of infantry soldiers supported by American air power.
"We're also told that at the front of the pack is the Afghan army, who has so far taken the brunt of enemy fire."
Zhari district is located about 20 to 30 kilometres west of Kandahar city.
In September 2006, the Canadian military carried out Operation Medusa in Zhari and Panjwai districts. That operation saw Canadian troops plunged into some of the fiercest combat since the Korean War.
Canada's forces prevailed, but Chao said the Afghan police haven't been able to keep the Taliban from returning.
"What it seems they're trying to do is regain this ground and then teach the Afghan police how to keep the Taliban out," he said.
Afghan police only get about 10 days of training and earn far less than the Taliban. They have poor access to weaponry and no armoured vehicles. "So they've consistently been the target of Taliban attacks in recent months, especially since the Taliban have learned they can't take on NATO forces directly," Chao said.
Canadian commanders are only saying the operation -- also known as Operation Khar Khowhai -- has been going on for about 24 hours and could continue for a few days. Training the police will be a longer-term task, he said.
Since the Quebec-based Royal 22nd Regiment came to Afghanistan in late July, it has lost three soldiers. All three died in Zhari district, and all three died from roadside blasts.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
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Mike Blais
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This reminds me of one of those Vietnam movies. Hamburger Hill or Hill 57somethingl....
We clear the land but do not have the resources to hold so we turn it over to the locals. Then we repeat the process on an annual basis and write of the dead and injured to... well, what? Thirty eight thousand Afghans have been taught by NATO during the past six years and they are STILL not ready to do the job.
Or will not.
Here we go again. Already the blood of the PPCLI and The RCR (and other units, of course) have been spilled securing objectives that the Vandoos now have to reclaim.
Combat push aims to regain lost ground
Canadian troops clash with Taliban to clear way for Afghan security forces
Andrew Mayeda
CanWest News Service
Sunday, September 09, 2007
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canadian Forces launched their biggest combat operation in more than a month early Saturday, pushing into the Zhari district of Kandahar province to clear the way for Afghan security forces to reclaim recently lost ground.
Canadian troops exchanged fire with the Taliban and encountered a number of improvised explosive devices, said Lt.-Col. Claude Fournier, Canada's chief of operations here.
However, no Canadian soldiers were killed or seriously injured in the early stages of Operation Khar Khowhai -- Keeping Goodwill.
Fournier added a small number of Taliban were killed in the clashes, but he could not say how many.
"Of course, they tried to ambush us, but we were able to succeed in gaining the piece of ground that we had planned to (gain)," said Fournier. He said Canadian troops, fighting alongside the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police, secured a number of "key sectors" in the district, a traditional stronghold of the Taliban. There were no reports of casualties among the Afghan security forces, he added.
Canadian Forces, and in particular the ANP, had recently suffered losses in those sectors, said Fournier.
"It's an operation that will last for several weeks. Today was the first stage of the operation and it went very well."
Canadian Forces were believed to have secured much of Zhari, located to the west of Kandahar City, in a series of operations beginning last fall.
But the Afghan National Police, which has become notorious for its corruption and incompetence, was unable to hold a number of checkpoints in the district.
Over the next couple weeks, Canadian troops will train Afghan security forces while engineers build new checkpoints to be manned by the Afghans, said Fournier.
Canadian engineers have already been building such checkpoints for several weeks as part of a separate operation called Garanday Zmarny -- Strong Lion.
"We will continue in the same vein to ensure that our presence in this part of the province is well established and we put the right conditions in place so that the Afghan army and police can succeed," said Fournier. It is hoped the deployment will allow reconstruction work in the district to resume, he added.
Canada has about 2,300 troops stationed in Afghanistan in support of the NATO-led coalition that is trying to secure and rebuild the wartorn country. Seventy Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.
Canada's military commitment here ends in February 2009. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he will seek the consensus of Parliament before extending the mission.
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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September 9, 2007
Harper says no vote on Afghanistan unless he can get support for new mandate
SYDNEY, Australia (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he won't be holding a vote in Parliament on Canada's Afghanistan mission unless he can get some other party to support his desire for an extension beyond 2009.
Harper, speaking after a summit of pan-Pacific leaders in Sydney, Australia, said there's no rush to have a debate or a vote on mission.
He says his obvious preference is for Canada to "finish the job" in Afghanistan.
The Liberal Opposition has said it plans to introduce a motion early in the fall session of Parliament seeking a vote to confirm that Canada's military mission will end as scheduled in February 2009.
The prime minister says there will be no vote until at least some of the opposition in the minority Commons will support the government - in Harper's words - "give a mandate to our armed forces."
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
Ultimate 2000+ Member
Offline
Gender:
Posts: 3203
A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Talking peace with the Taliban
In the shifting sands of Afghanistan, it can be hard to see the lay of the political land
Sep 09, 2007 04:30 AM
Olivia Ward
FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER
Images of war dominate news of Afghanistan: another soldier's death, the fear-filled faces of Taliban hostages.
But what's hidden from the cameras is the growing effort to find peace with the extremists whose black turbans symbolize unending warfare, but whom Western countries increasingly hope are the key to putting the battered country on the road to reconciliation.
The recent release of 19 kidnapped South Korean missionary aid workers came after a landmark deal between Seoul and the Taliban. The negotiations were appalling to some observers but did renew expectations that the militants were ready to do business.
"We do not negotiate with terrorists for any reason," said Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier, adding that "such negotiations, even if unsuccessful, only lead to further acts of terrorism."
His words were underscored by a Taliban vow to kidnap and kill more foreigners from countries with troops in Afghanistan. And, skeptics asked, even if the militants were willing to make a peace deal, are they united enough, and sincere enough, to make it stick?
But the war has so far cost the lives of 70 Canadian soldiers and one diplomat. As the list lengthens, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper seeks consensus on our future involvement in Afghanistan, a growing number of Canadians are connecting the dots between the continuing military conflict and the possibility of a negotiated settlement.
The urgency increases as NATO countries ponder cutting their troop contributions or holding back on making new ones.
Military analysts say the peak ratio of international soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan is one per 13 kilometres of territory, compared with Iraq's one for three kilometres.
A NATO meeting this weekend in Victoria is aimed at finding a way of turning around the ever-bloodier conflict. But it is not expected to include any significant increase | | | |
Logged
Well, it seems like Nato is getting in deeper and deeper... to disaster....and as for Osama.. the US could have had hime long ago if they really wanted him... they initily gave him over a two month headstart... so??? why??? some sort of crazy politics....Did any one get to watch the show Fahrenheit 9/11... a lot of sad facts came out of that one... and i wonder how in God Mr Bush is still in power... his lies are killing a lot of people , but making his family and some others filthy rich... go figure... since i watched it ,i am a staunch backer of us pulling out of Afghan ENTIRELY.. or going it as a single nation... outside of Nato... theres my picks.. we, too have been duped and our good people are dying for it...ranrad